From the opening moments of "Granddance",
the latest album from Sydney outfit Dappled
Cities Fly, you could swear that you were having a severe
case of "Am I listening to The
Shins?"
amnesia.

And for the most part, you wouldn't be far
off. While DCF
may be locals, there is definitely a familiar tone to their sweet and
hypnotic tunes. Much like a lot of the music coming out of California
these days (you'll hear a good number of similarities to bands like Weezer, The Shins, Hello Goodbye or The Thrills) the
latest tunes from DCF
are remarkably catchy, and remarkably indie.

The opening track Holy Chords is a
mix of sweet melody and uplifting rock, with Fire Fire Fire an
upbeat sure fire hit.

Current single, Vision Bell,
is stupidly catchy and is currently receiving a good deal of air play
on Triple J at present - which will no doubt bring the "Indie" fans out
of the woodwork.

The big surprise here is the way that DCF
have made their way through the ranks. Relatively unknown outside of
their hometown of Sydney (where they have become one of the premium
Sydney based bands within the live scene), a sole-support role with Silverchair on their
latest tour has given the guys a national profile.

Add to this, a very cool "Double Headline"
tour with fellow Sydney-siders, Red
Riders,
in which the headline band will be determined by the toss of a coin at
the beginning of the night. It's fast becoming one of the hottest
tickets in town - due largely to the fact that the DCF are heading
across to the US soon after. Yep - you've heard it here first, there is
a very good chance that Australia will have another US success story on
it's hands.

But back to the album.

There is a tendency for
"Granddance" to merge into the mundane about a third of the way
through, with the only thing to really keep your interest is to play
the game "Who's The Musical Influence". Yep, there are numerous
influences here - which often border or blatant impersonations. From
the aforementioned The
Shins, to The
Smiths, The
Cure it's pretty much all in here. Battletown sounds
like an Australian Idol contestant doing their best to sound like their
idol.

That's
not to say that "Granddance" is bad. In fact, it's one of the most
enjoyable albums I've heard this year - it's just it can, on occasions,
border on familiar. Similarities to rock legends aside, it must be said
that this is one proffesional sounding album. It's slick, it's smooth,
and one could be forgiven for not even being aware that these guys hail
from the same place as Crocodile Dundee.

Extra points must also
be given for the awesome art work - as well as the limited edition
double CD with a few extra tracks on there (all of which are a great
example of how polished and professional "Granddance" sounds).